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PICTURES of "Missing" Pyramid of A Pharaoh And The Connected SERAPIUM

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Bianca
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« on: June 06, 2008, 11:28:25 am »












                                             Egypt Uncovers 'Missing' Pyramid Of A Pharaoh





By KATARINA KRATOVAC,
Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 5, 2008
 
SAQQARA, Egypt - Egyptian archaeologists unveiled on Thursday a 4,000-year-old "missing pyramid" that is believed to have been discovered by an archaeologist almost 200 years ago and never seen again.
 
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief, said the pyramid appears to have been built by King Menkauhor, an obscure pharaoh who ruled for only eight years.

In 1842, German archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius mentioned it among his finds at Saqqara, referring to it as number 29 and calling it the "Headless Pyramid" because only its base remains. But the desert sands covered the discovery, and no archaeologist since has been able to find Menkauhor's resting place.

"We have filled the gap of the missing pyramid," Hawass told reporters on a tour of the discoveries at Saqqara, the necropolis and burial site of the rulers of ancient Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom, about 12 miles south of Cairo.

The team also announced the discovery of part of a ceremonial procession road where high priests, their faces obscured by masks, once carried mummified sacred bulls worshipped in the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis.

The pyramid's base — or the superstructure as archeologists call it — was found after a 25-foot-high mound of sand was removed over the past year and a half by Hawass' team.

Hawass said the style of the pyramid indicates it was from the Fifth Dynasty, a period that began in 2,465 B.C. and ended in 2,325 B.C. That would put it about two centuries after the completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza, believed to have been finished in 2,500 B.C.

Another proof of its date, Hawass says, was the discovery inside the pyramid of a gray granite lid of a sarcophagus, of the type used at that time.

The rectangular base, at the bottom of a 15 foot-deep pit dug out by workers, gives little indication of how imposing the pyramid might have once been. Heaps of huge rocks, many still partially covered in sand and dust, mark the pyramid's walls and entrance, and a burial chamber was discovered inside.

Archaeologists have not found a cartouche — a pharaoh's name in hieroglyphs — of the pyramid's owner. But Hawass said that based on the estimated date of the pyramid he was convinced it belonged to Menkauhor.

Work continues at the site, where Hawass said he expected to unearth "subsidiary" pyramids around Menkauhor's main one, and hoped to find inscriptions there to back up his claim.

The partial ceremonial procession road unveiled Thursday dates back to the Ptolemaic period, which ran for about 300 years before 30 B.C.

It runs alongside Menkauhor's pyramid, leading from a mummification chamber toward the Saqqara Serapium, a network of underground tombs where sacred bulls were interred, discovered by French archaeologist August Mariette in 1850.

A high priest would carry the mummified bulls' remains down the procession road — the only human allegedly allowed to walk on it — to the chambers where the bulls would be placed in sarcophagi, Hawass said.

Ancient Egyptians considered Apis Bulls to be incarnations of the city god of Memphis and connected with fertility and the sun-cult. A bull would be chosen for its deep black coloring and would be required to have a single white mark between the horns. Selected by priests and honored until death, it was then later mummified and buried in the underground galleries of the Serapium.

The procession route's discovery "adds an important part to our knowledge of the Old Kingdom and its rituals," Hawass said.

The sprawling archaeological site at Saqqara is most famous for the Step Pyramid of King Djoser — the oldest of Egypt's over 100 pyramids, built in the 27th century B.C.

Although archaeologists have been exploring Egypt for some 200 years, Hawass says only a third of what lies underground in Saqqara has been discovered.

"You never know what secrets the sands of Egypt hide," he said. "I always believe there will be more pyramids to discover."

« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:59:28 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2008, 11:32:03 am »



Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass
 talks to the media at the site of a so-
called 'missing' pyramid, currently only
a heap of rocks at the bottom of a dug-
out pit shown to media Thursday,
June 5, 2008, at Saqqara, south of
Cairo, Egypt.

Hawass says his team has uncovered
the missing pyramid of an ancient Pharaoh
who ruled more than 4,000 years ago and
a ceremonial procession road where
High Priests carried mummified remains of
sacred bulls worshipped in Memphis, the
capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)













« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:35:52 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2008, 11:37:06 am »



Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass, front, walks next to
a gray granite slab, part of a sarcophagus, at the site of a
so-called 'missing' pyramid, currently only a heap of rocks at
the bottom of a dugout pit shown to media Thursday, June 5,
2008, at Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt.

Hawass says his team has uncovered the missing pyramid of
an ancient Pharaoh who ruled more than 4,000 years ago
and a ceremonial procession road where High Priests carried
mummified remains of sacred bulls worshipped in Memphis,
the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:39:39 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2008, 11:40:51 am »



Workers are seen at the site of a so-called 'missing' pyramid,
currently only a heap of rocks at the bottom of a dugout pit
shown to media Thursday, June 5, 2008, at Saqqara, south
of Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass says his team has un-
covered the missing pyramid of an ancient Pharaoh who ruled
more than 4,000 years ago and a ceremonial procession road
where High Priests carried mummified remains of sacred bulls
worshipped in Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:42:16 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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Posts: 41646



« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2008, 11:43:58 am »



A worker dusts off a gray granite slab, part of a sarcophagus,
at the site of a so-called 'missing' pyramid, currently only a
heap of rocks at the bottom of a dugout pit shown to media
Thursday, June 5, 2008, at Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass says his team has un-
covered the missing pyramid of an ancient Pharaoh who ruled
more than 4,000 years ago and a ceremonial procession road
where High Priests carried mummified remains of sacred bulls
worshipped in Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:45:39 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2008, 11:46:56 am »



Workers are seen at the site of a so-called 'missing' pyramid,
currently only a heap of rocks at the bottom of a dugout pit
shown to media Thursday, June 5, 2008, at Saqqara, south
of Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi Hawass says his team has un-
covered the missing pyramid of an ancient Pharaoh who ruled
more than 4,000 years ago and a ceremonial procession road
where High Priests carried mummified remains of sacred bulls
worshipped in Memphis, the capital of Egypt's Old Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:48:49 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2008, 11:50:02 am »



Workers are seen at the site of a
so-called 'missing' pyramid,
currently only a heap of rocks at
the bottom of a dugout pit shown
to media Thursday, June 5, 2008,
at Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt.

Egypt's chief archeologist Zahi
Hawass says his team has un-
covered the missing pyramid of
an ancient Pharaoh who ruled
more than 4,000 years ago and
a ceremonial procession road
where High Priests carried
mummified remains of sacred
bulls worshipped in Memphis,
the capital of Egypt's Old
Kingdom.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:52:30 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #7 on: June 06, 2008, 11:54:53 am »



A sarcophagus with hieroglyphics
on the side is seen inside the well-
known Saqqara Serapium, a tunnel
of underground tombs, discovered
by French archeologist August
Mariette in 1850, that has been
closed to the public for repairs for
the last ten years at Saqqara,
south of Cairo, Egypt Thursday,
June 5, 2008.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's
Supreme Council of Antiquities,
announced Thursday the discovery
of a part of a ceremonial procession
road, dating back to the Ptolemaic
period, which ran for about 300
years before 30 B.C.

It runs along from the recently dis-
covered 'missing' pyramid of obscure
pharaoh King Menkauhor and leads
from a mummification chamber toward
the Saqqara Serapium, where sacred
bulls were interred.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 11:57:48 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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Posts: 41646



« Reply #8 on: June 06, 2008, 12:00:01 pm »



A sarcophagus is seen inside the well-known Saqqara Serapium,
a tunnel of underground tombs, discovered by French archeolo-
gist August Mariette in 1850, that has been closed to the public
for repairs for the last ten years at Saqqara, south of Cairo,
Egypt Thursday, June 5, 2008.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities,
announced Thursday the discovery of a part of a ceremonial
procession road, dating back to the Ptolemaic period, which ran
for about 300 years before 30 B.C. It runs along from the recently
discovered 'missing' pyramid of obscure pharaoh King Menkauhor
and leads from a mummification chamber toward the Saqqara
Serapium, where sacred bulls were interred.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:02:51 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #9 on: June 06, 2008, 12:04:03 pm »



A worker is seen inside the well-known Saqqara Serapium,
a tunnel of underground tombs, discovered by French
archeologist August Mariette in 1850, that has been closed
to the public for repairs for the last ten years at Saqqara,
south of Cairo, Egypt Thursday, June 5, 2008.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities,
announced Thursday the discovery of a part of a ceremonial
procession road, dating back to the Ptolemaic period, which
ran for about 300 years before 30 B.C. It runs along from the
recently discovered 'missing' pyramid of obscure pharaoh King
Menkauhor and leads from a mummification chamber toward
the Saqqara Serapium, where sacred bulls were interred.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:06:12 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
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Posts: 41646



« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2008, 12:07:22 pm »



A worker is seen inside the well-known Saqqara Serapium,
a tunnel of underground tombs, discovered by French
archeologist August Mariette in 1850, that has been closed
to the public for repairs for the last ten years at Saqqara,
south of Cairo, Egypt Thursday, June 5, 2008.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities,
announced Thursday the discovery of a part of a ceremonial
procession road, dating back to the Ptolemaic period, which
ran for about 300 years before 30 B.C.

It runs along from the recently discovered 'missing' pyramid of
obscure pharaoh King Menkauhor and leads from a mummifica-
tion chamber toward the Saqqara Serapium, where sacred bulls
were interred.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:13:26 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #11 on: June 06, 2008, 12:14:47 pm »



Zahi Hawas, Egypt's chief archaeologist and head of the
Supreme Council of Antiquities, walks at a pyramid site in
Sakara, Giza province, June 5, 2008.

Hawass said on Thursday he had identified a badly eroded
pyramid south of Cairo as that of the Fifth Dynasty Pharaoh
Menkauhor, who ruled Egypt in the 24th century BC.

REUTERS/Amr Dalsh
Photo Tools
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:16:38 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2008, 12:17:55 pm »



A worker walks at a pyramid site in Sakara,
Giza province, June 5, 2008.

Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Thursday
he had identified a badly eroded pyramid south
of Cairo as that of the Fifth Dynasty Pharaoh
Menkauhor, who ruled Egypt in the 24th century BC.

REUTERS/Amr Dalsh (EGYPT)
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:19:24 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
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« Reply #13 on: June 06, 2008, 12:20:27 pm »



Workers clear sand at a pyramid site in Sakara,
Giza province, June 5, 2008.

Egypt's chief archaeologist said on Thursday he
had identified a badly eroded pyramid south of
Cairo as that of the Fifth Dynasty Pharaoh
Menkauhor, who ruled Egypt in the 24th century BC.

REUTERS/Amr Dalsh (EGYPT)


http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Archaeologists-uncover-missing-pyramid-Saqqara-Cairo2C-Egypt/ss/events/sc/060508missingpyramid/s:/ap/20080606/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_missing_pyramid/im:/080605/ids_photos_wl/r2095074709.jpg/#photoViewer=/080605/photos_sc/2008_06_05t092735_450x321_us_egypt_pyramid
« Last Edit: June 06, 2008, 12:23:08 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

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Bianca
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« Reply #14 on: June 06, 2008, 12:40:37 pm »









                                          Eroded pyramid attributed to early pharaoh





JONATHAN WRIGHT

Reuters

June 5, 2008 at 2:07 PM EDT

SAKKARA, Egypt — Egypt's chief archeologist said on Thursday he had identified a badly eroded pyramid south of Cairo as that of the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Menkauhor, who ruled Egypt in the 24th century BC.

The identification by Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, could end the long controversy over the structure known as the Headless Pyramid, first described by the German archeologist Lepsius in the 19th century.

Some archeologists have associated the pyramid with the Tenth Dynasty pharaoh Merykare, who ruled about 400 years later, and others with the Twelfth Dynasty, which ruled Egypt between 1991 and 1786 BC during the period known as the Middle Kingdom.

But Dr. Hawass, whose teams have excavated the lower levels of the pyramid more thoroughly than any previous expeditions, said he is now convinced that the pyramid was that of Menkauhor, who is known from inscriptions to have built one somewhere.


Dr. Zahi Hawass's website 

 "Now we are sure that this pyramid is of a style of a pyramid of Dynasty V and belongs to a king called Menkauhor," Dr. Hawass told reporters during a tour of the site.

The archeologists did not find inscriptions with the name of the pharaoh, so Dr. Hawass based his attribution on architectural features, coupled with the fact that Menkauhor is the only Fifth Dynasty ruler whose pyramid has not been identified.

He pointed out large red granite blocks at the entrance to the burial chamber and said these were characteristic of pyramids of that period, of which there are many examples.




No labyrinthine passages


He also said that, on close examination, the plain lid of the sarcophagus was made of a material – grey schist – closely associated with the Old Kingdom.

"The material of this sarcophagus was never used in the Middle Kingdom," he added.

Another deciding factor was the ground plan of the substructure, which lacks the labyrinthine pattern of passages that led to the burial chambers of Middle Kingdom pyramids.

"The Middle Kingdom pyramids ... have complicated corridors until you reach the burial chamber. Without discovering any inscription, I tell you this is Old Kingdom. The substructure is exactly Dynasty V," he said.

The top part of the pyramid disappeared many years ago, probably removed by villagers to build houses in the flood plain of the Nile, which lies about 100 metres away.

When Dr. Hawass's team started work at the site about 18 months ago, they had to remove about eight metres of sand to reach the relatively well-preserved lower levels.

In the process, they stumbled upon what Dr. Hawass said was a processional way, built in the Ptolemaic period, along which the high priest of the Apis bull cult would lead the funeral of each sacred bull toward the Serapeum, where the mummified animals were buried underground in vast stone sarcophaguses.

A stone found nearby bears the name of Ptolemy V, a pharaoh of Greek origin who ruled Egypt between 205 and 180 BC.
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